Line-casting machine



VANmr. 3, le93l. 1 M. wALDEN LINE CASTING MkCHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Aug. 51,' 192e i' Lm Invert/T57".-

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L. WALDEN LINE CASTING MAHINE Filed Aug. 3l. 1928 Nov. 3, 1931.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 3, 1931 LESTER M. WALDEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS LIN :El-CASTING MACHINE Application filed August 31, 1928. Serial No. 303,173.

The invention has general reference to linecasting machines of the type in which molten metal is forced through the mouth of a melting pot into a line mold, to form a slug. More particularly the invention relates to an attachment for cleaning and wiping the mouth of the melting pot after each casting operaation to remove any foreign matter, such as metal drippings, dross or the like.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved attachment of this character which is under the direct control of the machine and which in its wiping Contact with the mouth of the pot travels through a vertical path lying substantially in the plane of the 'face of the mouthpiece of the melting pot.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a device of this character,

the movements of which are resiliently attained in the wiping direction and are positively effected by the movement of a machine part in the return direction thereby eliminating a forced wiping action liable to result in damage to the mouthpiece or mold. t

Another object is to provide a device of this character the movement of which is under the control of'a suitable moving machine part to the end that such movement '39 is at a relatively slow constant speed as contradistinguished from a rapid snap action.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following description and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sideelevation of a part oi' a line-casting machine showing the invention incorporated therein. I Fig. 2 is a plan view of the part of the machine shown in Fig. 1, the view being taken substantially along the lines 2-2 of Fig. 1.

F ig. 3 is a detail view of the rear side of the pad which wipes the mouthpiece. Fig. 4; is a sectional View on an enlarged scale taken along the line .L-l of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a detail showing the mouthpiece of the melting pot with the wiping pad occupying the position assumed at the end of a wiping stroke.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, I have shown in the drawings and will herein describe in detail the preferred einbodiment, but it is to be understood that I do not thereby intend to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but intend to cover all modiications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended 50 claims.

For the purpose of illustration, the invention has been shown as being incorporated in a lineacasting machine of the type known commercially to those skilled in the art, as 55 a linotype machine. During the cycle of operation of such machines a step occurs during which the flattened mouthpiece 10 of the melting pot 11 is advanced temporarily against the back of the mold 12, mounted in a mold disk 13, to close the mold during which time molten metal is forcibly ejected from the mouthpiece into the mold to form a slug. Immediately after the slug is formed, the pot is retracted to its original position. It has been found in practice that there is a tendency of molten metal, dross or other matter to accumulate upon the monthpiece of the pot, which accumulation prevents the close contact of the mouth of the pot with the mold in an ensuing casting operation.

During another step in the machine operation, the mold disk 13 moves forwardly to carry the mold to the slug trimming and ejecting position. This movement is eected 35 by means of a. mold slide, generally indicated at 14, and provides, for a brief space of time, a relatively narrow space or clearance between the mouthpiece and the mold disk. Subsequently an ejector slide 14a, 90 which is slidably mounted in the mold slide 14, moves forwardly while the mold disk is forward in its ej ecting position to eject the slug from the mold. It is this movement of the ejector slide 142L during the interval of 95 clearance between the mouthpiece and mold disk which I utilize in wiping the mouthpiece.

In accomplishing the objects therefore, I provide a swinging member rigidly mounted on the frame of the machine and operably connected to the reciprocating ejector slide 1lin in such manner that the niemeer sweeps vertically downwardly at a relatively slow steady speed across the mouthpiece immediately after the mold disk has been moved forwardly to provide the clearance between the disk and the mouthpiece.

One of the features of the invention resides in this vertical movement of the device. Customarily, the mouthpiece includes an arrangement of transverse ports 10a, through which metal is forced into the mold, alternating with a series of vertically extending vents 10, which permit air to escape from the mold metal is injected thereinto. Metal or dross is apt to lill these ports and vents, interfering with the injection of metal and the escape of air to prevent etlicient casting and a vertical wiping stroke, as embodied herein, is essential to clean the mouthpiece, and particularly the vertical vents, thoroughly of foreign matter.

Referring to 1 and Q, the device comprises a bracket member l5 arranged to be secured in any suitable manner, as by the bolt 1G, to an appropriate part of the frame 17 of the machine. The bracket is provided with forwardly and rearwardly extending arms 1S and 19 which support lever .20 and an actuating arm 21 respectively. 'Ehe lever 2O car ies the wiping member and is preferably in the form of a bell crank mounted on the bracket arm 18 by mea s of the pivot pin 22, with one arm 20 thereof extending forwardly of the machine. For a purpose to be presently set forth a plate is preferably formed integrally the forward end of the arm 2O:L and carries a bar 31 rigidly secured thereto and extending laterally therefrom in the direction of the mouthpiece.

The actuating arm 21 is also pivotally mounted intermediate its ends as by means of the pivot pin 23 upon the arm 19 of the bracket and has one end 21?L depending therefrom substantially into the path of the slide lla. fl lug 2li projectingfrom the end of the depending arm 1fL is arranged to abut the rear face of the slide 14a in the normal position thereof. The other end 211 of the arm Q1 is connected to the free end 2Ob of the bell crank lever Q0 by means of a suitable link 25 interposed therebetween. A spring 26 is connected at one end to a lug 27 on the link 25 and at the other end to a pin Q8 rigidly mounted upon the lrackot By this construction it will be seen that the spring 2G exerts a force which normally holds the forwardly extending arm of the lever 2O in its downward position and the depending end of the actuating arm 21 in its forward position abutting the slide lea. The downward movement of the lever arm 2On may be adjustably limited by such means as an adjusting screw 37 carried by the arm for abutting engagement with the stop lug 3S on the bracket 15.

rlhe preferred disposition of parts as determined by the location of the bracket on the frame, is such that when the ejector slide 1411 is in its inoperative or rearward position the rear face of the slide engages the lug 2l on the arm 21 to hold the arm in its rearward position. This position of the arm, through the link 25, maintains the for fardly extending arm 20 of the lever 2O in raised position, as shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1. ln consequence of this arrangement, as the ejector slide moves forwardly to push the slug from the mold, the arm 21a follows the slide, permitting the spring 26 to move the lever arm 20 downwardly toward the clearance formed between the mouthpiece and the mold disk when the mold disk was moved into the slug ejecting position.

'l1 he forwardly extending arm of the swinging lever 2O is substantially elongated and carries at its forward end a wiping member generally indicated at 29. The length of the arm such that the wiping member, in swinging downwardly, describes an arc to which the surface of the mouthpiece is substantially tangential to pass freely through the clearance between the mold disk and the mouth- However, since the arm is elongated sweeping movement of the wiping memacross the mouthpiece is in a substantially vertical path which is substantially in the plane of the face of the mouthpiece. rl`his insures that portions of the wiping member will engage each of the parts and vents in the mouthpiece thoroughly to clean them of foreign matter.

ln its preferred embodiment the wiping member 29 detachable from the arm in order to permit of ready removal or replacement when the member becomes worn. lleferring to Figs. 3, l and 5A the wiping member comprises an elongated pad 32 of suitable. material, such as felt, which is detachably secured in a protecting shield 33, arranged. to be mounted on the laterally er:- tending bar 31. A preferred form of shield, as shown in Fig. d, comprises a flat plate of a somewhat resilient metal, such as brass, bent at one end upon itself to provide a ba receiving loop 34. At spaced intervals along he length of the shield, portions thereof cut away on three sides from the bottom of the loop to provide tabs 33a. Substantially at the top of the loop the tabs are bent outwardly from the face of the shield to form a top portion of the loop, and thence are bent first away from the loop substantially parallel to the face of the shield as at 35 and then inwardly toward the shield to provide pad engaging points 86.

Thus the pad 32 may be secured to the shield 33 by the prongs 36 and as the bar 31 is in- 'serted into the loops 34 the sides of the bar engage the unbent portions of the tabs 33a to urge the points 36 into a substantially rigid clamping engagement with the pad Pret erably the shield 33 extends upwardly, as at 33", to form a guard above the pad, which por-V tion is bent to overlie the pad thereby guarding the pad from accidental engagement with the upper edge of the mold disk in the return movement of the arm.

In operation the device is mounted upon the frame of the machine with the arm 2O extending forwardly to position the wiping member 29 substantially in operating position. Final adjustment of the position of the wiper may be easily effected by forming the pivot pins 22 and 23 eccentric-ally, in a well known manner, so that a slight rotation of the pins moves the wiper toward or from the mouth piece. The stop screw 37 is adjusted to permit the wiping member to swing downwardly a suiiicient distance to just clear the metal openings 10"l and the air vents 10b in the mouth piece.

The device is then adjusted for operation and in the normal position is held in a rcmote position above the melting pot by t-he abutment of the arm 21a with the ejector slide 14a. Movement of the slide forwardly gradually permits the spring 26 to pullthe arm 2OEL and the wiping member 29 downwardly across the mouthpiece, the swinging move ment being controlled by the slide so that the movement of the wiping member between the mold disk and the mouthpiece is completed while the clearance therebetween is greatest. A return movement of the slide 14a moves the arm 21a rearwardly and swings the arm 20a upwardly to its normal position.

It will be seen, that, by this construction, the downward movement of the wiper, is effected by the spring 26. Consequently, should the wiper, by misadjustment or accident, come into contact with the mouthpiece, mold disk or other part of the machine the arm will be held by such contact against movement until released by the return movement of the slide. Furthermore, the return movement is positively actuated by the abutment of the slide with the arm thereby insuring that the wiping device will always be moved upwardly from its eXtreme position between the mouthpiece and the mold disk. Since each movement of the wiper is directly controlled by the slide, such movements will be relatively slow. This is desirable since the wiping pad sometimes carries a slight amount of grease or graphite, and a rapid orsnap movement, on occasion, would throw the grease or graphite into the mold and onto the matrices, which, as those skilled in the art are aware, prevents good casting.

It is contemplated, that in certain instances the mold disk and the slides are moved forl' wardly manually to give access to parts of the machine for cleaning or adjustment purposes. On such occasions it is desirable to retain the wiping device in its elevated, out of the way, position. This may be readily accomplished by providing a slidably mounted pin 39, (Fig. 2) at an appropriate point on the bracket arm 18 capable of being moved into the path of the lever arm 20" to prevent movement of the wiping member downwardly. The pin 39 may be conveniently operated by such means as a wire 40 connected thereto.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a line-casting machine having a part moving in a horizontal path through a definite operative cycle and a melting pot having a mouthpiece, a wiping member arranged for` swinging movement across said mouthpiece, resilient means urging said member toward one position, and an operative connection between said member and said moving part positively holding said member in the opposite position against the force oi said resilient means and releasable only when said part moves through its operative cycle. y

2. In combination with a line-casting machine having a part moving through a definite operative cycle and a melting pot having a mouthpiece, a wiping member arranged for swinging movement across said mouthpiece in a vertical plane, resilient means connected to said wipingrmember urging said member downwardly, and linkage connected to said member Aand engaging said moving part to permit the resiliently actuated downward movement of said member as said part moves through one half of its cycle and to return said member against the force of the resilient means as the part completes its cycle.

3. A line-casting machine having, in combination, with a part of said machine movable through a definite operative cycle and a melting pot having a mouthpiece, a mouthpiece wiping device comprising an arm arranged for swinging movement in a vertical plane, a wiping pad carried by said arm and arranged for wiping contact with the mouthpiece during a part of said swinging movement, a lever engaging said operative part, and means including a spring connecting said arm and lever and tending to urge said arm downwardly and to maintain said lever in engagement with said part.

4. A line-casting, machine having, in combination with a part of said machine movable through a definite operative cycle and a melting pot having a mouthpiece, a mouthpiece wiping device comprising an arm arranged for swinging movement in a vertical plane, a wiping pad carried by said arm and arranged for wiping contact with the mouthpiece durign a part of said swinging movement, a lever having an abutting engagement with said operative part, means including a spring connecting said arm and lever and tending to Cil urge said arm downwardly and to maintain said lever in abutment with said part, and means limiting the downward movement of said arm.

5. A line-casting machine, having, in combination with apart or" said machine movable through a delinite operative cycle and a melt ing pot having a mouthpiece, a mouthpiece wiping device comprising an arm arranged for swinging movement in a vertical plane, a wiping pad carried by said arm and arranged for wiping contact with the mouthpiece during a part oi said swinging movement, a lever having an abutting engagement with said operative part, means including a spring connecting said arm and lever and tending to urge said arm downwardly7 and to maintain said lever in abutment with said part, and means movable optionally into engaging position to hold said arm against downward movement.

6. In a wiping device of the character described, the combination of a supporting member and a wiping member, said wiping member comprising a body plate bent at one end to form a loop engageable by said supporting member, a` wiping pad of fibrous material, and a plurality or" pad engaging members formed integrally with said body plate to comprise a part of said loop, said engaging members being movable upon engagement with said supporting member into tirm holding engagementwith said pad.

7. In a wiping device of the character described, the combination of a supporting member and a wiping member, said wiping member comprising a iibrous pad, and means for mounting said pad on said supporting member including a plate engageable by said supporting member and means on said plate adapted to be held in clamping relation with said pad by the connection between said plate and said supporting member.

8. In ay line-casting machine having a melting pot mouthpiece provided with elongated air-escape vents and a machine part having reciprocating movement a wiping member for said mouthpiece, and means operatively connecting said member to said machine part for movement of said member across said mouthpiece in a. path substantially paralleling said vents.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

LESTER M. IVALDEN. 

